Contributors

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Much to my own surprise, these days I find myself far more hopeful about the potentials for change in political and social spheres in the United States than I have ever been about anything that has recently come out of Iran or the hopeless Iranian diaspora. And no, I am not talking about those lying cowards Obama and Hillary, but about the Republican candidate Ron Paul, who despite systematic and blatant US press censorship, ridicule, and hostility, has continued to take principled and consistent stances that are drawing support from even the most unlikely of quarters.

But I don't want to expand now on Ron Paul, and why he and his supporters are cause of excitement and hope among a lot of people like myself. Nor do I want to get into a discussion of my utter disappointment in most things Iranian. If you want to know about the reasons for my dismay with all things Iranian, you can take your pick of a range of governmental policies and actions or stop by any random Iranian "opposition" or "alternative" website (Iranian.com is a good place for English only speakers), and just have a look at the hateful, racist rage that oozes from the articles and comments of so-called supporters of democracy and human rights.

What I really came to talk about today, can be summed up in this picture below, of a little paralyzed boy in Gaza whose frightened siblings have to manually pump his ventilator because Israel's electricity cuts mean that he could suffocate if power goes out and no one is around to breath for him:

You can read their story here.The fate of this family, and all of the other detainees in the world's biggest prison, is in the hands of an occupier and the super-power whose support sponsors this on-going tragedy. This is what results when you vote in democratic and fair election, but the powers that be don't happen to approve of who you have chosen to lead you. The misled subjects of the US mainstream press, our so-called reformist activists and politicians in Iran, or the self-appointed "intellectual elite" in diaspora may choose to believe otherwise, but the rest of the world is not that stupid.